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Kamala Harris Holds Breakfast For Black Women In Atlanta
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A day after candidates sparred over race and culture during Wednesday night's Democratic presidential debate at Tyler Perry Studios, candidates crisscrossed through Atlanta to pitch their message to black voters from every background.
Religious black voters were courted by five candidates over breakfast hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton. Across town Sen. Kamala Harris held her own morning buffet where she spoke to a group of black women.
After enjoying an early lead, Harris has seen a slow decline in polls throughout the summer and fall. She stood at 4% in a RealClearPolitics average of national polls following Wednesday night's debate, a sharp decline from the 15% second-place position she surged to in early July.
During the morning event, Harris reiterated to the crowd that she remains the only black woman candidate in the race. She pitched her unique ability to represent black communities as a strength and addressed the questions of electability for a black woman in 2020 head-on.
"The conversation about electability is, 'I just don't know if America is ready for a black woman to be president of the United States; I'm ready, but I don't know if my neighbor's ready.'"
She shared stories of her time canvassing for then-Sen. Barack Obama and hearing the same remarks that America was not ready for a black president. She argued that if we were able to do it in 2008 and 2012, then it should not be an issue in 2020.
Harris also remarked on the criticism against her criminal justice record pointing out that she was not the only former prosecutor on the debate stage. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, like Harris, has too been pressed on her record as a prosecutor being called too ‘tough on crime.’
Her frustration with the narrative against her record as California attorney general continued calling into question the past support her fellow candidates had for tough on crime laws.
“There are people on that stage who wrote the crime bill, who voted for the crime bill and who just learned how to talk about justice,” Harris exclaimed to the group. “Are you kidding me? Where were these folks when I was creating a national model on what we need to do to end mass incarceration?”
In a candid exchange during the question period of the conversation, the California senator suggested she was disappointed at the lack of support she had received from two of Georgia’s most prominent black female Democrats.
“You know I've been to Georgia I campaigned for your mayor, Keisha, I campaigned hard for her. I have campaigned for Stacey Abrams too.”
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, while Stacey Abrams has yet to declare support for any of the candidates.
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